


Breaking the Ice

by opalmatrix



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Games, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Slash, Snow and Ice, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 10:31:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9230936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opalmatrix/pseuds/opalmatrix
Summary: An unexpected break in the journey allows some time for fun and games ... and getting to know each other a little better.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kiraly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiraly/gifts).



> The recipient wanted "characters building friendships ... getting into (and out of) trouble ... I’d really enjoy some wintery stories ... (mild) hurt/comfort, and, uh...characters ...having to snuggle to warm up." I hope this fits the bill!

In the afternoon, the city buildings had fallen away on one side of the road, replaced by a strangely crowded wood. "Was this a farm?" asked Emil, thinking about the abandoned and reforested farmlands he had passed recently.

"Not so close to the city," scoffed Sigrun.

"Maybe a big park," said Tuuri, her eyes on the road. "You can probably find it on the map."

"Yes," said Mikkel, after a moment of tracing his finger along the route. "Here it is. And there's the turn-off from the main road for it: see the sign?"

"Hm," said Sigrun. "Hey, Fuzzy-head: take that turn." 

"What? OK!" The cat-tank slewed slowly into a wide turn and then down the narrow road. After less than half a kilometer, they came to a weather-beaten parking lot with some young trees coming up through the worst holes in the pavement. On the other side, the forest opened out around a gleaming expanse of ice. Benches surrounded it except on the far side, where the some of the benches were surrounded by the ice instead. A small concrete building stood to one side. It had a huge, boarded-up window taking up almost the entire top of half of the wall facing the ice and a door on the side facing the parking area.

"What in the world was that? Why are there benches out in the ice?" Tuuri asked, gently applying the cat-tank's brakes.

"I imagine the benches used to be on the side of the lake, like the ones on this side," said Mikkel. "But at a guess, it's an artificial lake, made by damming a stream."

"Oh," said Emil. "So it probably drained out the other side?"

"That would make sense," said Tuuri. "Maybe the drain got clogged and the water rose. Captain, couldn't we camp here?"

SIgrun nodded. "That was the idea. Pull the tank over by that building. Nothing is going to sneak up on us here, with all that open ice and this pavement."

"We still have more than an hour of daylight," observed Mikkel. 

"Too late to start exploring anything seriously," said Sigrun. "We're stopping here."

Mikkel shrugged. "I might have a look at the building. Although I doubt it has any books."

"What was it?" wondered Emil.

"I'm not sure. But whatever it was, they closed it up carefully. So it might be worth a look."

"We'll all go," said Sigrun. "Stretch break before supper, and then an early night."

Tuuri parked the cat-tank right by the strange little building and went to wake Lalli. "What?" he said, his voice sleepy and cross.

"We're stopping early. We found an old park, with a little lake, all iced up. It's a good, safe place."

"How do you know?" said Lalli, looking out. "I didn't get this far last night."

"The captain says."

Lalli frowned, but he started to put on his outdoor gear. Emil was opening the outer door. "Stop that," barked Sigrun. "Tuuri, Reynir, get your masks on."

The two of them followed her orders. Soon enough, they all poured out of the cat-tank and stood blinking in the late sun. Mikkel took a pry-bar and dragged Emil off to open the door of the odd building. Tuuri looked around. "It's pretty. What did they used to do here?"

"Who cares?" Sigrun said. Emil and Mikkel already had the lock out of the door and were opening it. Sigrun went off to see what was in the building, and Emil came back a moment later.

"It's too crowded in there for more than two. It looks like some kind of shop or something."

Lalli was prowling along the edge of the ice. "Emil, what do you think they did here?" asked Tuuri.

"Just sat around and ate food outdoors. Or if there were fields where the trees are, maybe they played football or something. Maybe sailed toy boats in the water. Or skated in the winter. Hey, it's too bad we don't have skates!"

"Oh. Lalli!" Tuuri called. "Is it frozen solid?"

"All the way," said Lalli. "It's really shallow. Less than an arm's length."

Tuuri clapped her gloved hands. "Emil, it's frozen solid. Who needs skates!"

She ran over to the edge and right out onto the ice, then slid. "Whee! Come on, come on!" she shouted, first in Swedish, then in Icelandic.

Reynir broke into a grin and followed her. Emil and Lalli looked at each other. Emil frowned. "I don't think the captain will like it."

Lalli probably only understood the word "captain," but he seemed to take in Emil's tone. He deliberately turned away and ran out onto the ice to join his cousin. Emil scowled and followed. To his annoyance, he wasn't as good at sliding as Tuuri and Lalli were. Reynir wasn't either, but he didn't seem to care, the clown.

"I know!" said Tuuri. "We can crack the whip." She arranged them all in a line, holding hands. "I'll be the pivot."

It took a couple of minutes of prodding and translated orders to get everyone arranged to her satisfaction, and there they were, gliding over the ice. Tuuri abruptly slewed to a stop, and Emil, who was at the other end of the chain, found himself flying. He lost his grip on Lalli's hand, his feet went out from under him, and he continued onward on his butt, still traveling at an alarming rate. He narrowly missed a partially submerged bench and slammed into a small tree with its roots in the ice.

"Emil!" Tuuri hollered. "Are you all right?"

"Thanks for asking!" he shouted back, angry. "I'm all one big bruise!"

The cousins had a hasty low-voiced conversation, and then Lalli half-ran, half-slid over and offered him a hand.

"Get back over here!" roared Sigrun, who had apparently finished her exploration of the building. Tuuri and Reynir exchanged glances and hurried back to her side. Emil could tell that she was giving them a hard time, although he couldn't hear the exact words, and he hoped it was a good, hot one.

He grabbed Lalli's hand and hauled himself to his feet, wobbling. Lalli pulled one of Emil's arms across his own shoulders and put an arm around Emil's waist, then half-carried him across the ice. Emil wanted to protest, but Lalli was surprisingly warm and surprisingly sturdy, too, despite his weedy physique. So Emil let himself be helped.

Tuuri and Reynir, under Mikkel's supervision, were carrying a pasteboard crate and a couple of steel pots to the cat-tank. "It was a little snack shop, apparently," Mikkel said. "I don't trust most of the food that's left, even the tins, but that box is full of tea bags sealed in foil. They may still be usable."

"Real tea," said Emil, intrigued despite himself.

"Yup, the real deal," said Sigrun. "Emil, you better not have broken anything with that stunt."

Emil opened his mouth to protest and then shut it again. There was nothing he could say that wouldn't be poor sportsmanship and cowardly. Sigrun went inside the cat-tank. Emil leaned against the treads and shook out his arms and legs experimentally. There was no point in hurrying: everyone who was already in there needed to decontaminate first.

Lalli watched him for a moment and then patted his shoulder and asked him something in Finnish. He sounded worried. That was good. Emil was glad that _someone_ was worried.

"I'll be OK," he said. "And you really need to learn some more Swedish."

Lalli looked at him intently, as though looking harder would make the words make sense. Then he shrugged, patted Emil on the head, and leaned on the tread next to him. They watched the sun going down, each warmer for the other's presence. Finally the door opened again.

"OK, you two!" called Sigrun. "Hurry up. Mikkel says the tea is still pretty good, and we're going to use some of the last of the honey."

Emil reached out to grab Lalli and pull him to the door, but the scout evaded him easily. He looked back at Emil and his eyes crinkled at the corners before he turned and leaped up the steps. Emil followed more slowly. When he looked back, the red sun was laying bars of fire across the ice.


End file.
